stare



(No Model.)

IE. T. STARR.

ARTIFIGIAL TOOTH CROWN.

Patented May 18, 1886.

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IN V E N T O R N. PETERS mwumoyw www bjc UNITED STATES PATENT OEEICE.

ELI T. STARR, OF PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA, ASSIGNOR TO THE S. S. W'HITE DENTAL MANUFACTURING COMPANY, OF SAME PLACE.

ARTIFICIAL TOOTH-CROWN.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 342,271, dated May 1a, 188s.

i Application filed January 5, 18.96. Serial No. 187,720. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern.-

Beit known that I, ELT T. STARE, of the city and county of Philadelphia, in the State of Pennsylvania, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Artificial Tooth- Crowns, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to artificial toothcrowns applied to naturaltooth roots remain` to ing in the mouth, in order to replace the natural crowns which have been lost or destroyed.

Many attempts have been made to provide a suitable method of replacing lost or denuded tooth-crowns, and with varying success. Some of the plans introduced are very desirable for some teeth, and all the methods introduced,

Vas far as I am aware, are more or less advantageous. It is still a desideratum, however,

to have a method of replacing the lost or re- Qo moved crowns of the jaw-teeth, and by that expression I mean teeth beginning with the bicuspid's and ruiming back to and including al1 the molai-s, superior and inferior.

My invention is not adapted to the replacea 5 ment of the crowns of cuspids and incisor teeth, where the masticating-surface or cutting-edge terminates in acomparatively sharp point or edge. There must be, to apply my invention, a neck which presents a thick or substantially 3o round or equivalent shaped bodyin cross-section, and which also presents such a thick crosssection at the crown orV masticating-s'urface of the tooth. I make use of a metal baud surrou nding the neck of the root and extending outwardly therefrom, and fitted at its outer end to receive the broad side or end of a cap, substantially, of porcelain or equivalent hard wearing-surface. I make use of the metal band to encircle the neck of the tooth, and ex- /io tend it sufficiently far to raise the porcelain or equivalent crown-cap when applied to the position the crowning or masticating face of the natural crown occupied.

In order to make use of the crowncap with the metal band, in contradistinction to the use of a tooth-crown with such a band, which tooth-crown includes not only the grinding or masticating surface, but the body and neck of the crown also, I employ a body of packing 5o or filling material to fill the greater portion of the metal band, and merely cap the whole by a porcelain cuspcap, in order to provide a grinding and masticating surface which will` stand the wear and abrasion of the opposing o1' occluding teeth. 55

It has heretofore been the custom in a large degree to provide the metal band with a top or masticating or grinding or cusp surface of the same metal as the body of the band, usually gold; but it has been found that a grind- 6o ing or masticating surface of this kind will not stand the wear caused by the opposing teeth. g I have sufficiently indicated the general nature of my present improvements, and will now proceed to describe them more particularly by aid of the accompanying drawings, iirst premising that the several improvements claimed by me herein are specifically recited in the summary at the close of this specifica- 7o i tion.

In said drawings, Figure 1 is aview in elevation of au inferior molar tooth with my iin-- proved cap-crown applied thereto. Fig. 2 is aview of a superior molar, and Fig. 8 a simi- 7 5 lar view of a bicuspid tooth, having my improved cap-crown applied thereto. Figs. 4,

5, and 6 are views, respectively, of the face or masticating ends of the crowns shown in Figs.

1, 2, and 3. Fig. 7 is a sectional view of one 8o form of my improved crown-cap. Fig. Sis asectional view through a tooth root and band fitted for the application of such a cap to complete the artificial crown, and Fig. 9 is ascction through such a root and crown completed. Fig. 10 isa 85 view of another form of myimproved crowncap. Fig. 11 is a section therethrough, and Fig. l2 is a View ofthe root, band, and such a crown-cap ready to be fitted together. Fig.

13 is a horizontal section through the metal 93 band as shaped for a molar root and crown.

In applying my improvements the natural crown is rst completely denuded or cut away, as usual, and the root excavated as usual, and the neck or end of the root A is then fitted g5 with a metal band, B, usually of gold, but may be,0f course,of any suitable metal or material. This band is preferably contoured, curved, swelled, or rounded in vertical cross-section, as clearly shown in, Figs. 8, 9, and l2 of the roo drawings, and has teats or projections b formed therein and projecting inwardly, to limit the endwise movement of the band upon the root in fitting the parts together. rlhe outer end of the band projects beyond the end of the root, and forms a chamber continuous with the chamber a, formed in the end of the root in excavating it for the reception of the fastening material C and the pins or screwsl) D, (one or more,) which are to aid in securing the artificial crown upon the root in well-known ways. The cement or filling material G,usu ally a quick-setting cement, such as oxychloride of zinc, or amalgam, or someA equivalent material, several kinds of which are in common use among dentists, is packed into the chamber of the root and band in a plastic state, and when it sets or hardens it secures the parts together. It will be seen that the chamber formed by the band beyond the end of the root is quite an extensive one, and it is filled with the cement or illing material C very nearly to the outer end of the band. While the plastic filling is still soft I apply one of my improved crown-caps, E, which may be of porcelain or other suitable material, and is provided with preferably headed pins c e (one or more) on its rear end or side, which projects into the metal band and faces the filling materialin the root. Thepins being embedded in the lling material, securely retain the crown-cap in place when the cement sets or hardens. Said cap E is a mere thin cap-provided' with cusps on its face corresponding to those of the crown it replaces, and is provided in order to present a hard wearing or cusp surface to the opposing or occluding teeth. When the cement or amalgam hardens, the cap, as has been said, is securely locked to the rootgrand in addition to-or in place-of the locking pin or pins e the crown-cap may be recessed or undercut, or have retainingshoulders formed upon it to be engaged by the cement or plastic lling.

In the form of cusp crown-cap shown in Figs. 7, 8, and 9 I have shown a circumferential groove or shoulder, e', around the edge of the cap, in which the upper end of the metal band B may be brazed or fitted in any suitable manner When the cap is applied to the structure. This shoulder sustains the cap when pressure is applied, as will be obvious, by bearing on the outer edge of the metal band in addition to the bearing its broad inner face has upon the body of filling material C.

In order to provide a cusp crown-cap according to my improvements which will enable the cap to be set at an angle to the metal band, which is sometimes necessary, (that is to say, it is sometimes necessary, owing to the particular formation or direction of the root, which may be out of line or otherwise irregular, to apply the cap not with its end inserted the same distance into the band all around its edge, but at one side more than another, so as to enable the cap to fit exactly the occluding or opposing tooth, the crown or masticating-face of which may also be out of lineor irregularly shaped,)I construct my iinproved crown cap with inwardly-tapering sides or with inclined periphery, as clearly shown in Figs. 10, l1, and 12, whereby, owing to this taper, one side of the cap may be readily inserted farther into the outer end of the metal band or tube than the other, to enable accurate fitting to be accomplishedwhile still retaining tight `joints all around the end of the band. The cap in this latter construction is a comparatively thicker body than the shouldered cap first described, and clearly shown in Figs. 7, 8, and 9, and in order to lessen the extent of projection of the retaining pin or pins e from such a cap I form arecess in the end or rear side of the cap, from Which the pin or pins project,and which thus enables the cement or amalgam 'to encircle the retaining pin or pins without too great projection of said pin or pins beyond the end or inner surface of the cap.

My improved cusp-cap obviously may be made in other forms necessary for use under particular circumstances; but any further.

modifications thereof need not be either shown or described herein to indicate the scope of the invention.

I claim as my inventionl. A metal band for use in setting or applying artificial tooth-crowns, having an inwardly-projecting p unched-up teat or series of teats thereon, substantially as described, whereby a portion of the metal band is punched up and utilized to limit the movement of said band upon the end of the root when fitted thereto without weakening said band. l

2. A straight-edged metal band for use in setting or applying artificial tooth-crowns, made concavo-convex or swelled at its center and contracted at its edges, substantially as described.

3. An artificial tooth-crown cap having an outer surface corresponding to the grinding or masticating surface of the natural crown it is to aid in replacing, a thin body, and an inner face or end fitted with a retaining pin or pins, substantially as described.

4. An artificial tooth-crown cap having a tapered or inclinedperiphery or edge, substantially as described.

5. An artiicial tooth-crown cap having the tapered or inclined periphery, with a recess in the inner end or surface of said cap, substantially as described.

6. An artificial tooth-crown cap having a tapered or inclined periphery or edge, a recess or chamber in the end or rear face thereof, anda retaining pin or pins projecting from said recess, substantially as described.

7. An artificial tooth-crown structure consisting of a straight-edged metal band surrounding the en d of the natural root, and having a chamber therein above or beyond said root end, a separate thin porcelain or equivalent cap fitting the entire outer end of said band, and having a grinding or masticating IIO surface corresponding to the natural crown it is to replace, and a cement or filling material in said band-chamber supporting the lower side of said cap which rests thereon horizontally beyond said root end, substantially as described, whereby a metal masticatingsurface is gotten rid of and that surface rendered more durable and capable of ready fitting and of replacement without removing the metal band from the tooth-root. 1o

In testimony whereof I have hereunto subscribed my name.

ELI T. STARR. Witnesses:

J. A. B. WILLIAMS, Ronin. E. GORDON. 

